The Decorah Community School District has been awarded a $430,000 a year multi-year grant under a "Teacher Leadership and Compensation" program approved in 2013 by the Iowa legislature.
State officials say the grant is "designed to reward effective teachers with leadership opportunities and higher pay, attract new teachers with higher starting salaries, and support greater collaboration for all teachers."
The grant funds will allow the hiring of additional teachers and staff members in the Decorah district. Some of the teacher leadership positions may include instructional coaches, mentors, collaborative teachers and integrations specialists. Some of these positions will be full-time outside of the classroom and others will be in addition to classroom responsibilities. Full job descriptions are being developed for internal posting in mid to late spring.
New teachers hired under the grant must be paid a base salary of at least $33,500 a year. The grant will also pay for an in-depth mentoring/coaching program for new teachers.